‘Technology will play an enabler role to allow restaurants to be more efficient’

The memories of childhood are irreplaceable. Nothing can wash them away and they become the safest space in the mind of any child. For many, it is an escape but for an entire generation of people in India, memories of childhood were bittersweet. For people who left their hometowns in Pakistan and migrated to India at the time of Partition, all they had from their childhood days were memories of homes and places that they most likely never visited again. All of us have seen this generation of people reminisce time and again the wonders of their youth.

But for one person from this generation, these were not just memories and stories but motivation. It was in 1972 that JK Kapur founded the Copper Chimney Restaurant, laying the foundation of what would go on to become K Hospitality Corp. With this restaurant, he brought back his love for dishes and flavours from his life in Pakistan to India and shared it with the world. Today, this dream has become the largest privately held food and beverage company in India, with operations across QSRs, restaurants, bars, food courts, banquets, catering and corporate food services. “We have a portfolio of over 25 company owned brands and we operate several international brands including KFC, Domino’s and Haagen Dazs among others. Our QSR business makes up the majority of our business and we have recently launched our own QSR brand, JOSHH which caters to Indian cuisine. We aim to build it into a top five QSR brand in the country in the coming decade,” say Karan Kapur and Varun Kapur, Executive Directors, K Hospitality Corp.

Karan Kapur (Left) and Varun Kapur (Right), Executive Directors, K Hospitality Corp

As K Hospitality Corp completes five decades of operations, we speak with the duo to understand how they see the F&B space evolving in the near future, their expansion plans, their investment strategy and the vision for tomorrow. Excerpts:

Given the disruption in the last couple of years, how do you see the F&B sector and the hospitality industry as a whole evolving in the near future?

As a result of new technologies and shifting consumer demands, the hospitality industry is evolving rapidly. We believe that QSR brands are well-positioned thanks to their streamlined operational procedures and structured supply chain and menu planning, and a burgeoning consumer class who is aspiring to eat out conveniently and at value for money prices. We see technology playing an enabler role to allow restaurants to get more efficient, and the F&B sector to understand and serve its customer better. The democratisation of technology through SaaS models will enable the entire fragmented industry to improve their experience and margins through innovative technology solutions that we see coming to market in the coming years. 

What are your domestic and international expansion plans over the next five years?

As a Group, we believe that QSR is a big opportunity for us to continue to focus and capitalise on, and going forward, we intend to grow this segment significantly. As we look at the future, we will continue to invest in our QSR businesses with the launch of JOSHH, our answer to bridge the gap between MNC and home-grown Indian QSR brands and scale up our primary QSR business in airports and highways in the coming few years. We are investing into key international markets with the opening of 35 stores as well as six airline and loyalty card lounges at multiple Malaysian airports and 200 outlets of Joshh over the next five years.

In terms of domestic plans, by 2028, we intend to reach 1,000 stores and increase our footprint to 30 locations in the near future.  We intend to grow our employee base from 6,000 to 11,000 people to help support this expansion plan, and will be investing 500 crores to fuel our growth in the coming years.

What are your views on the emerging opportunities and investment atmosphere in the Indian hospitality industry?

The hospitality industry offers a compelling long-term investment opportunity with many of the market leaders of the future being shaped today. We believe that investments into the sector will continue to grow as you see the emergence of large national players in the sector and these investments will support the growth of the entire ecosystem of suppliers, vendors and innovations that will further enable a flywheel of industry growth in the future.

Please talk us through the investment strategy of the brand for its various business verticals.

We aim to invest Rs 500 crore with a substantial portion going to the expansion of our QSR business. In terms of figures for the next 18 months, we estimate to spend approximately Rs 140 crore based on locations in the pipeline.

What learnings have the past two generations passed on to the third which is all set to take charge of the organisation now?

The importance of our people and treating everyone with respect. We strongly believe in a philosophy of ‘People First’ and creating an environment of trust and transparency. These values form the core of how we approach our business and relationships with our partners. On the consumer front, the focus on consistency and not compromising on quality of experience, remain an integral part of our strategy since we started with the first Copper Chimney 50 years ago.

What has been K Hospitality Corp’s mantra for success?

Consistency and putting our people first.

K Corp’s vision for tomorrow

While driving new F&B projects and the expansion of K Hospitality Corp in India and overseas, we will build on the foundation of creating memories and inspiring happiness through food. We aim to touch our customers’ lives wherever they enjoy and experience food, whether it is an F&B experience on the high street, in a mall, at a banquet, in an airport, highway, in your office or at your home.